


Distant Truths - Branching Currents

by ThetenthtenbeingofTen



Series: Distant Truths [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Brief MPreg, Childbirth, Don’t copy to another site, Haruka's mermaid songs, Makoto's fear of the ocean, Mute Nanase Haruka, Other, Slow Build, Stillbirth, makoharu - Freeform, merman Haruka, past dub-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 10:59:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18342305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThetenthtenbeingofTen/pseuds/ThetenthtenbeingofTen
Summary: A mermaid in need, a pair of brothers and a man, who nearly died in the ocean...The long-awaited prequel toDistant Truths!





	Distant Truths - Branching Currents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Schnooglepuffs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schnooglepuffs/gifts).



> This story took way longer to write than I had thought, and I'm sorry that it took so long, but here it is at last!
> 
> Please note that merfolk are somewhat animalistic in this world. Their mating rituals are more focused on reproduction, than bonding or love. Because of that, if they are fertile, they will be "forced" to mate.  
> It's not explicitly described in any way, and given that explanation I don't feel like it deserves to be described as outright rape, but anyways, be warned.
> 
> With that said, I hope you enjoy!

_Swirling tendrils, shimmering blue.  
Bubbles._

_Liquid ice clawing its way down his throat.  
Dizzying lights.  
Bottomless darkness.  
More bubbles._

_He was going to die._

_He couldn't even remember how he'd fallen into the water. The only thought occupying his mind was his panic; the terrible fear of death.  
Frantically grabbing water, trying to pull himself up towards the light. Anyone, anything, just please, don't let him die here!_

_Don't let Ren and Ran's first memory of the ocean be such a terrible one. Please._

_If there is a god, won't he please save him?_

_Silence meets his thoughts._

_There is no response._

_Nobody comes to save him._

_His body stretches, all limbs tensing up as the need to scream becomes too strong to suppress._

He opens his mouth to scream… and startles himself awake with his own voice.

He's shivering; blanket abandoned on the ground; body damp with sweat.

That nightmare again.  
Makoto pants and finally manages to sweet-talk his body into a state of cautious relaxation. “You didn't die”, he tells himself, “You are here. You are alive, Makoto. You were saved”  
Again and again he reminds himself.

He doesn't remember how he was saved. All he knows is that he somehow washed up on the beach and was brought to the hospital, where everyone was both surprised and relieved to see that he hadn't suffered any severe damage.

Only claw marks on his arms and shoulders, but the doctors believed it was from his own fingers, when he hugged his own chest to combat his panic.

Nobody questioned it.

The story was printed as a small notice in the local newspaper of Iwatobi – Boy was miraculously saved from certain death! - Better lifeguards for Iwatobi-beach needed? – and that was it. Nobody talked about it.  
Neither did people want to remind the boy of the traumatic event, nor did people want to remind themselves of the truth that a child could have died.  
A few kids at school asked Makoto if he was okay during the following days, but eventually that died down as well.

Makoto tried to curl himself into a cocoon once he retrieved his blanket, shield himself from the window, from the ocean beyond it, but it didn't help.

Even now that he lived in Tokyo, the ocean called his name.

_

“And Sensei said that I did really well!”, Hayato told his brother, tugging on his hand to get his attention.  
“I'm really proud of you, Hayato”, Kisumi said, giving Hayato a dazzling smile. The boy burst into giggles and did a jumping-dance in front of Kisumi. The older laughed with him.  
“Be careful”, he said though, when Hayato got too close to the waves lapping at the beach.

The boy quickly returned to his brother's side, clinging to his hand again.  
“Well, with that settled, everything else should go well”, Kisumi said softly both to himself and his brother.

He gazed into the afternoon sky. The sun wasn't quite setting yet, but the sky was already streaked with red and pink clouds.

The ocean was calmly glistening under the sun. 

Hayato's grasp on Kisumi's hand got a little firmer. He missed his brother.  
Ever since Kisumi got into university, he rarely got to spend time with him anymore. And now that he had a job, their time together was even less.

Kisumi gently squeezed Hayato's hand when he noticed his brother's worried expression. The kid was always quite silent and timid.  
“Hey, relax”, he said and smiled down at his brother.  
Hayato didn't smile back though. Instead he seemed to stare off into the distance. Kisumi tugged on Hayato's hand to get his attention.  
“Hayato?”

“Nii-chan”, Hayato said, never tearing his eyes away from whatever caught his attention and instead pointed in that direction.  
Kisumi looked in the direction Hayato was indicating and felt his heart stutter.

Somebody was writhing on the beach, seemingly unable to pull themselves further onto the land.

“Hayato… stand here. I'll … take a look, okay?”, Kisumi heard himself say, feeling uneasy. He let go of Hayato's hand and started walking towards the person. The person was alive, but still, he didn't want Hayato to see something disgusting.

Hayato stumbled after Kisumi, words not registering in his mind.

When Kisumi saw the person from closeup he turned towards Hayato, expecting him further in the distance and panicked.  
“Stop, Hayato!”, he called and thrust his upright palm towards his brother.  
Only now did the words sink into Hayato's consciousness and he stopped instantly.

Kisumi knelt next to the person writhing and looked at their tense back.  
“Lets get you out of the water”, he murmured, trying to think of something useful to do. The person winced and clawed at the sand underneath them.

Kisumi jumped back in shock when he saw blood gush from somewhere around the person's… wait a second… 

Where are the legs? 

Where one would have expected a pair of legs, Kisumi saw a tail. It was azure-blue, scales catching the light beautifully. For a moment he couldn't move or think, staring at the mermaid's tail in awe.  
Another gush of blood washed over the tail and dissolved into the ocean foam, effectively startling Kisumi out of his trance.

Is it injured?!  
He tried to scan the creature's body for injuries – it's a mermaid, right? It has to be. Right? – but found none.  
He got up and stepped over the mermaid to look at its front, rather than its back, and his eyes grew wide.  
It was … pregnant?

The mermaid's mouth opened but no sound was heard except for a hoarse wheezing. It shook with painful labor though, Kisumi could tell just by looking at it.  
“Oh my god”, he muttered, terrified and awestruck at the same moment.

Was it giving birth!? Right here? Right now??? 

Kisumi looked around helplessly.  
“H-Hayato…!”, he called out before he knew what to say.  
The boy had been watching with eyes wide as saucers. He jerked forward and almost fell over his own feet.  
“Wait… just… toss me the towel, okay?”, Kisumi managed to stammer. Hayato immediately started to rummage through his backpack and pulled out his towel. He knew he couldn't throw it towards Kisumi, so he stepped towards him hesitantly.

The mermaid's tail whipped around, splashing both Kisumi and Hayato when it seemed to bear down hard.  
Hayato shrieked and dropped the towel accidentally.  
Kisumi looked at him.

“It's okay Hayato. Give the towel to me, okay?”, he said as soothingly as he could.

Hayato picked up the towel and handed it to Kisumi, not daring to look at the person.

If it scared his brother so much, it would definitely scare him.

Kisumi thanked him and turned back to the mermaid.  
“Can you understand me?”, he asked and touched its shoulder gingerly.  
The mermaid didn't react to him though, screaming silently again.

Kisumi could feel the vibrations of the creature's scream when he touched it.  
He didn't know what to do. He dared to risk a glance down the mermaid's body and then he saw something squeeze out of its … body. It looked like a clean slit down the middle of the mermaid's tail. So unlike human genitalia and yet surprisingly similar.  
At this point the slit was about the length of his hand, and out of that slit a round little head emerged. The mermaid's mute trembling conveyed just how agonizing and exhausting it must be, though Kisumi had no way of knowing for sure.

Kisumi pushed the dark wet hair from the mermaid's face in a weak attempt to soothe it even a little.  
“Keep going, you are doing good”, he murmured, hoping to encourage the creature somehow. He wasn't even sure if it understood what he said. If it sounded as soothing as he intended it to be. But he had to say something.

He held onto the wet towel, ready to wrap the newborn mermaid in it, only now realizing how ridiculous his thought was.

“Nii-chan”, Hayato whined.

Kisumi looked up.  
“Stay there, Hayato”, he said softly.

“What is with… them?”, the boy asked, voice trembling.

Kisumi looked down at the mermaid's writhing body. He opened his mouth for a few seconds. He closed it without uttering a word.  
His brother was only fifteen years old. He himself was twenty-five and he didn't feel ready to comprehend what he was seeing, so how could he tell Hayato?

He shook his head apologetically.

Hayato lowered his head.  
Kisumi let out a yelp when the mermaid's hand wrapped around the wrist of his hand which was still resting on its shoulder.  
“Hey, hey… you are still good. Keep fighting, okay?”, he said helplessly and stroked the mermaid's shoulder as much as he could.

It bore down once more, body vibrating with exertion and pain, finally though the newborn mermaid slipped out of its mother's slit – only the soft fin remaining inside, alongside the umbilical cord – another gush of blood followed.  
The mermaid's grasp on Kisumi's wrist loosened and he reached down to scoop up the newborn mermaid with the towel, pulling the fin out of the slit carefully. He stared down at the tiny being in his arms, eyes trailing the umbilical cord back to the slit.

He heard Hayato let out a scared yelp.

He looked up at him and only then realized, that the being in his arms wasn't moving at all. He got scared.  
Was it okay? Should he put it into the water? With its mother?

He looked at the exhausted mermaid in front of him.  
It opened its eyes and opened its mouth. Was it calling out to its newborn?

Kisumi lowered the newborn so it laid next to its mother in the sand.  
The mermaid pushed itself up on its arms and looked down at the newborn.

Again it seemed to coo at the being. But there was no response.

The mermaid lowered its head and nudged the newborn with its forehead, nuzzling its stomach helplessly, growing more desperate the longer it got no response.

Kisumi felt himself choke up.

It was stillborn.

 

He didn't know what to do.  
He couldn't just walk away, even though he probably should. Don't expose Hayato to such a thing… keep him safe.

Suddenly the mermaid flinched and thrust itself up on its arms and looked out into the ocean.  
Kisumi looked too, squinting into the sunset.  
There was a head poking out above the surface. Was it a swimmer? Or another mermaid?

Before he could try to find out, the mermaid by his side picked up its stillborn baby and pushed itself further onto the beach, away from the ocean.  
Is it trying to escape? Kill itself?

Kisumi didn't know what else to do, so he wrapped his arms around the mermaid and pulled it further away from the water.  
“Do you know that person?”, he asked. The mermaid shook its head frantically, tail flopping about on the sand.

“Nii-chan, what are you doing?!”, Hayato shrieked and ran to help his brother, all fear forgotten.

“Hayato… we can't leave it here”, Kisumi muttered and let the mermaid's upper body rest on his lap.  
It cradled the stillborn to its chest and silently wailed. After a while it pressed its face into the stillborn's stomach and Kisumi wasn't sure what was happening until he saw the umbilical cord fall to the side limply.

It then writhed again, tail flopping a few times. From the slit emerged something what Kisumi could only assume was the mermaid's afterbirth.

He didn't know what else to do, so he took off his shirt, trying to wrap it around the mermaid's tail as best as he could.

“Hayato, we are going home now”, he said as calmly as he could and picked up the mermaid. It was quite heavy, he thought for a moment before he started walking at a quick pace.  
Hayato followed immediately.

They got the mermaid to their parents' home without incident.

Kisumi thanked whatever deity there might be that his parents were away at the moment. They had left to go on vacation, which is why he was looking after Hayato in the first place.

Inside Kisumi carried the mermaid to the bathroom, setting it down in the bathtub.

He turned on the water, startling the mermaid for a moment.  
It held the towel-wrapped stillborn closer to its chest for a few tense seconds, before relaxing and silently cooing at its baby.

Kisumi wondered if it even understood that it was dead. That no amount of cooing would get it to respond.  
He thought he should take the body away and maybe bury it, but he didn't dare to. 

The mermaid seemed to be unable to let it go yet. It looked young, so maybe this was its first.

Once the tub was filled he turned off the water and left the bathroom to assure Hayato.

The boy sat in front of the bathroom door, clutching his backpack.  
“Hayato?”, Kisumi said softly. The boy looked up at him and sobbed.  
“Is it okay?”, he asked, clearly referring to the mermaid.  
Kisumi took a deep breath.  
“I think so. It's not hurt, I think”, Kisumi said and desperately wondered how he should explain to Hayato.  
“But… didn't… it give birth?”

Kisumi stared at Hayato dumbly.

“Is the baby okay?”, Hayato asked with tears welling up in his eyes.  
Kisumi swallowed hard.

He had underestimated Hayato.

“I'm… afraid not”, he admitted with a deep sigh.  
Hayato nodded and sobbed.

Kisumi pulled him into his arms and held him tightly.

For a while they sat together like this, holding onto each other helplessly. At some point Kisumi pulled away and tried to give Hayato an encouraging smile.  
“I'll go and put on a clean shirt and … I'll try to take care of it”, he said and wiped the tears from Hayato's cheeks.  
“Could you make something to eat? For us and the… mermaid?”  
Hayato nodded at first.  
“What does it eat?”  
Kisumi thought about it.  
“I would assume it eats fish? Try to see if we have any, ok?”, he said and earned a slow nod from Hayato.

Once Hayato went into the kitchen, he himself went to his own room, put on a clean shirt and went back to the bathroom.  
He found the mermaid in the same position as he'd left it.  
Cradling its stillborn, wailing silently.

Watching it felt like watching a movie with no sound, except for the soft swishing of the water.

“Hey”, he said softly and approached the bathtub.  
The mermaid raised its head.

Kisumi thought he should try to talk to the creature, but when he thought of something to say, he found nothing to say.  
“Eh… do… uhm…” he started, “do you understand what I'm saying?”

The mermaid stared at him for a few seconds, before nodding.  
“Yes? You do?”, Kisumi asked, surprised with the response he got – surprised with actually getting a response at all.  
Another nod, then the mermaid nuzzled its stillborn again.

“Your… baby…” Kisumi started again, even more hesitantly this time.

The mermaid didn't respond.

Kisumi didn't dare to ask again. He remembered seeing something like this in an animal documentary. It takes time to sever the bond between a mother and her newborn, even if it's dead.  
He hoped that the mermaid would eventually let it go.

“D-Do you have a name?”, Kisumi then asked.  
The mermaid looked at him for a moment, before lowering its head.

“You don't?”, Kisumi asked.  
That got him a glare.  
“So you do?”  
A nod.  
“Can you tell me?”  
The mermaid looked at Kisumi for a moment before shaking its head. It opened its mouth, forming soundless words.  
“Only your kind can hear your voice? Humans cannot?”, he asked and earned a nod.  
“I see”

The mermaid lowered its head.

“So… well. I'm Kisumi, and the other human I was with earlier is my brother, Hayato”, Kisumi said and ran a hand through his hair.

The mermaid gave no response.

“Are you… a female?”, Kisumi asked. He was about 70% certain the answer would be yes – the mermaid had given birth before his eyes – but when he just looked at its appearance he doubted that it was a female after all.  
The mermaid's chest was flat and lean, but with firm, toned muscles, more like a mans chest would be.

The mermaid looked at Kisumi and raised one eyebrow. When Kisumi said nothing, it turned back towards its stillborn, cradling it gently.

 

It took the entire day until the mermaid allowed Kisumi to take the body away. He softly explained to the mermaid that it had to be done, that there was no hope, that it had to let go.  
Kisumi left the house to bury the body. 

In the mean time Hayato brought a plate with raw fish to the bathroom. He'd found some frozen fish in the freezer and decided to thaw it out to feed the mermaid with it.

He was scared.  
But when he looked at the mermaid he just couldn't turn away. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the creature.

In all his panic he hadn't paid attention to the actual beauty of the being, but now he allowed himself to take it in and actually pay attention.

The mermaid's tail was covered in iridescent scales, the color shifting from a rich sky-blue color to a more silvery tone. In the light of the bathroom's artificial illumination it had an almost teal tint to it.  
It was beautiful.

The mermaid's skin was pallid but somewhat human-like. It had the same iridescent shift to it, but the color seemed to be that of a pale human.

What caught Hayato's eyes though, were the small patches of scales that were littered over the mermaid's body.  
It almost seemed like where a human would naturally have some hairs, the mermaid had scales.

Even on its face there were some scales. Hayato wondered if it was a boy or a girl.  
From the face alone he couldn't tell.  
The body was like a boy, he thought, but the mermaid had given birth, so… was it a girl?

Hayato decided not to worry about it for now and instead looked up at the mermaid, catching its eye.

The mermaid's eyes seemed to be expressionless, just as the rest of its face, but Hayato could see it. The mute pain behind those deep eyes. A blue color that reminded him of the depth of the ocean on a summer day.

He sat down on the rim of the bathtub, still holding the plate.

“I'm Hayato”, he started and tried to smile. Maybe he could cheer it up?  
The mermaid didn't respond, but seemed to pay attention.

“I hope you like this?”, Hayato said and held the plate closer to the mermaid.

It didn't seem to be interested. It stared into the water.

Hayato swallowed the lump in his throat and forced himself to keep trying. To not just give up now.  
“I… I think I understand a little. You are very sad right now. Maybe you are hurting. But Nii… err… Kisumi helped you so much already. So…”, Hayato looked up at the mermaid, “so please, don't give up. Don't let his effort go to waste. Try to get better, okay?”

The mermaid didn't respond for a while. Hayato sighed. Maybe the mermaid didn't even understand him – although Kisumi had said that it seemed to understand their language.

The mermaid closed its eyes and opened its mouth. Hayato wasn't sure what that meant. Should he feed it?  
But then he saw tiny ripples in the water. Was the mermaid trying to cry out? He didn't know.

He still had no answer when Kisumi returned.

 

After almost a week passed the mermaid – named Haruka – had gotten a little better. Hayato and Kisumi had named it, after asking for permission to give it a human name.

Hayato had actually chosen the name, explaining that the mermaid should have a name that could be used for both a boy and a girl, because they weren't sure what it was.

Haruka ate, slept and responded to the brothers, but often they found their mermaid wailing silently. Clearly the loss of its newborn weighed heavily on the mermaid. When they asked if if that baby had been its first, Haruka had nodded and wept again.

Sometimes they let Haruka crawl around on the bathroom floor, while they washed the tub, just so the mermaid could move its tail a little.  
That wasn't enough though. 

Eventually they made a decision.  
Haruka couldn't stay with them anymore. It was clear to them when they found scales scattered on the bottom of the tub every now and then.

“Haruka”, Kisumi started and sat on the rim of the bathtub. Haruka looked up at him, eyes wide.  
“You can't stay here, right?”, he said and gave Haruka a sad smile, “You need to be able to swim freely. Not like this”, he explained calmly, reaching out to soothe Haruka, when the mermaid started to panic.  
“Relax, we won't take you back to the ocean. You are afraid of it, right?”, Kisumi soothed. The mermaid lowered its head.

“I'll introduce you to a person who can give you a new home, okay?”, Kisumi offered and got up once Haruka nodded.  
“Hayato will stay with you”

And with that, Kisumi left.

He sat in his car and drove to Iwatobi Aquarium. He had called beforehand and made an appointment with the manager, Sasabe Goro.  
The man awaited him at the entrance, wearing a suit that only looked business-appropriate if you looked at it from a distance. Up close you could see the sea-star pattern on it.  
Kisumi frowned. Should he really entrust a mermaid to this guy?

“You must be Shigino-kun!”, Sasabe said jovially. He smiled widely at Kisumi.  
“Sasabe-san, I assume?”, he said and smiled back sweetly.  
“Damn right. How can I help you? You said you wanted to show me something?”, he asked and put his hands on his hips.  
Kisumi took a deep breath. He was going to do this now. Haruka needed a proper place to stay at.  
“I have… found something. I couldn't bring it with me, and I can't tell you what it is, because you wouldn't believe me”, Kisumi said and bowed slightly, “I need you to come to my place and look at it. I know you are a busy man, but please, it will be worth your while”  
Sasabe raised one eyebrow and stared at Kisumi as if he'd lost his mind.  
“Well… fine”, he agreed when Kisumi shot him a pleading glance.

 

Meanwhile Hayato sat next to Haruka on the rim of the bathtub where Kisumi had sat a while ago.  
Haruka was eating at the moment.  
The brothers hoped – and they felt bad for treating Haruka like an animal – that Haruka would be more docile and calm like this.

Hayato smiled sadly and absentmindedly stroked Haruka's tail. Haruka wasn't exactly eager for physical contact, and refused Kisumi's touches frequently, but for some reason the mermaid allowed Hayato to touch him.  
Maybe it was the echo of its motherly instinct.

The brothers had found, that Haruka liked fish very much. Mackerel to be specific. They had experimented with different options – raw, cooked or fried – and found, that Haruka actually preferred fried mackerel.  
It made the mermaid appear so much more human. Maybe they were underestimating it all this time. The creature certainly possessed a high level of intelligence, using gestures and nonverbal means to communicate. And even if one only judged its appearance, it clearly resembled a human.  
The face, the proportions of it and expressions it was capable of were absolutely human. If one only looked at its upper body and ignored the translucent scales and iridescent skin color, it was indistinguishable from a human. Oh, and webbed fingers with long, sharp claws.  
So shouldn't its intellect be similar to that of a land-dwelling human?

 

Sasabe locked his hands behind his head and relaxed while Kisumi drove them back to his home.  
“Well… now that you got me in your car, won't you tell me what you want to show me?”, he asked.  
Kisumi shook his head.  
“Well… I do need to warn you though”, he murmured, “I know you will probably freak out when you see it, but I need you to try not to make noise, or at least control yourself, okay?”  
Instead of showing respect, Sasabe started laughing.  
“God, are you trying to scare me now?”, asked between laughter, “Did you catch Nessie? Or what?”

Kisumi frowned. 

“We are there. Follow me”, he said once they arrived at his home.  
They entered the house and Kisumi led Sasabe up to the bathroom.  
“Remember what I said. Try to control yourself, okay?”, he said and knocked on the door.  
“Nii-chan?”, Hayato called from behind the door.  
“How is Haruka?”  
“Good”  
“I'll come in then”, Kisumi announced and opened the door slowly.

There was silence.

Haruka looked up and stared at the human Kisumi had brought with him. The one who'd give him a new home.  
He wasn't sure if the human was okay. He stared with wide eyes for quite a while. Haruka thought it wasn't polite at all and threw a nervous glance at Kisumi.

After another moment passed, the human finally moved. And started roaring. Haruka tried to sink lower into the tub to hide from the noise.  
Kisumi slapped Sasabe's shoulder to make him stop.  
But the man only laughed more.

“Nice try!”, he yelped between breaths and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, “The tail looks really realistic, amazing work on that, but you can't expect me to believe that, boys.”

Haruka tried to understand what the human was saying. The tail would refer to his own tail, right? But what work was involved with it? Or did he not understand the human concept of 'work' correctly?  
He nudged Hayato.

The boy frowned at Sasabe's ignorance and offered a kind smile to Haruka.  
“He doesn't believe that you are real”, he tried to explain. Haruka only looked more puzzled.  
“Haruka, try moving your tail for me, hm?”, Kisumi said and approached the mermaid.

I can do that, thought Haruka and moved his tail from side to side in a way, that a fake tail never could.  
Of course he wasn't aware of that. But Sasabe began to realize his mistake.

“Wait...” he suddenly said and stepped into the bathroom, approaching the bathtub now at an alarming speed.  
Haruka bared his teeth.

Fangs.

These clearly weren't human teeth.  
The hand that reached out from the water wasn't either.

“You scared Haruka!”, Hayato exclaimed. Even he was afraid to touch Haruka right now. The mermaid hadn't bared its teeth to anyone before.  
Neither to Kisumi, nor him.

Sasabe was frozen in place, staring mesmerized at Haruka's hand. At the azure claws and translucent webbing between each finger.

When Haruka noticed the strange human's fascination he pulled back his hand immediately. He didn't know what to think about this.

He'd seen humans interact with each other, when he watched from a safe distance how families brought their young to the beach to swim.  
When he peeked up at ship-decks in the harbor. He never got close enough to be seen, but he certainly picked up on this and that.

This kind of stare though, he hadn't seen too often. And when he did, he didn't like the outcome of it.

“Back off!”, Kisumi said and stood between Sasabe and the tub.  
“I told you to control yourself, goddamn!”, he added.  
That seemed to shake Sasabe awake.  
“Right… I'm sorry. I just… How did you come across this… creature?”, he asked slowly.

“We found Haruka on the beach, stranded. We couldn't leave him there, but he refused to go back to the ocean, so we took him with us”, Kisumi summarized. He didn't want to tell Sasabe about the stillborn baby.  
Somehow it felt wrong to mention it.

Haruka himself had just barely gotten over it.  
If at all.

The mermaid was still way too aware of the sore ache within its slit. Usually the male who'd fathered the young would also care for the one who bore it, licking the slit to soothe the inflammation.

But as his fellows told Haruka time and time again, he was broken.

To refuse the alpha of the group, when he especially had chosen you, was crazy.

Of course the alpha hadn't asked him for his opinion. 

“I see”, Sasabe said and nodded.

“You should try to talk to Haruka”, Kisumi said.  
“Haruka?”, Sasabe asked, only now noticing.  
“We named it”, Hayato explained.

Sasabe nodded.  
“Go ahead. Haruka understands us, even though he can't answer with words”, Kisumi encouraged.

Sasabe swallowed and took a deep breath.  
“Hello, Haruka”, he started, unsure what to say, after he had scared the poor creature so much.

Oh? Haruka thought to himself. This human tries to talk to me now?  
He tilted his head to the side expectantly.  
“I'm very sorry for scaring you”, Sasabe continued, trying to read the mermaid's expression.  
Haruka tilted his chin forward, observing the human's expression just as carefully.  
“My name is Goro Sasabe. It's nice to meet you”, the human said.

Haruka gave a single nod.

Everything after that was pretty easy.  
Sasabe brought his car the next day, where Haruka would fit in the back. His tail was wrapped in drenched towels and the Shigino brothers said their goodbyes to their mermaid.  
They promised to visit the aquarium whenever they could.

And with that, it was done.

Haruka had a new home.

Of course it wasn't entirely that easy. Every single member of the aquarium staff almost fainted when they saw the new creature.  
Once the first shock subsided curiosity boiled over. Everyone wanted to touch it, talk to it, examine it.  
Haruka hid at the bottom of his new tank most of the time.

A deep sea diver, who worked at the aquarium was called to coax Haruka back up to the surface, so his partner, a young researcher could examine him.

Haruka stayed far away from the ladder and platform upon which a man in a lab-coat was perched, not trusting the stranger.  
The weird person, who was in the tank with him didn't make him any more comfortable.

“Rei-chan is a kind man, Haru-chan!”, the blond human said and bared his teeth at him. Only it wasn't a hostile gesture. It was this thing humans did when they were trying to be friendly.

Haruka also wasn't sure if “Haru-chan” actually referred to him, but since there was nobody else except for him, who it could refer to, he assumed it did.  
The diver stayed at a 'safe distance' but somehow still managed to invade Haruka's personal space.

The mermaid was about to submerge himself again, when the diver latched onto his arm.  
“Boo, not nice!”, he chided and rubbed his head against Haruka's shoulder.

Haruka was by no means a hostile being. 

But right now he felt the need to defend himself… except he couldn't. The human was uncomfortably close to him, but somehow he didn't seem to mean him any harm. He was just… loud and very bubbly. Like when you hold a bunch of air in your mouth and release it in somebody else's face.

The man in the lab-coat, whom the diver had introduced as “Rei-chan” observed silently, taking notes every now and then.

“Rei-chan, can't you say anything? Haru-chan doesn't like me”, the diver whined.  
“Nagisa-kun, maybe it would help if you didn't cling to it like that”  
“Oh my god”, the diver – Nagisa-kun – groaned, “Don't call Haru-chan 'it', Rei-chan!”

Haruka observed them with wide eyes.  
Did humans truly interact like this? Were they weird specimen? Or had he only seen a special kind of humans at the beach and the harbor?

“Haru-chan is clearly a boy!”, Nagisa-kun said.

“We shouldn't make assumptions regarding Haruka-san's gender or biology until we have seen it for ourselves”, Rei-chan said, adjusting the red framed glasses on his face.

They intrigued Haruka to some extend, but not enough to let him forget his caution.

“Haru-chan, are you a boy or a girl?”, Nagisa-kun asked Haruka now.  
That question didn't help Haruka.

So he just tilted his head in a questioning fashion.

“Do you have a pee-pee or...” - “By god, Nagisa-kun!”

Haruka was tired now.  
These humans were too much to deal with, so he went back underwater and this time the diver couldn't grab him.  
“You scared him away, Rei-chan!”

 

Eventually, after tedious examinations and tests, Haruka was brought to a new tank. One with a big glass window and plenty of plants, rocks and other, smaller fish. This was his new home now.

Beyond the window he could see more windows and walls. Pathways for humans to walk on, from one window to the other, he assumed.  
But that didn't matter much to him. He felt safe. Far away from the lustful songs of his alpha.

Far away from everyone else's bickering, reminding him of the fact that he was crazy.

He explored his new home and soon found a nice spot on a smooth rock to stay and rest on. He also did a quick tour among the fish to see if they were edible, dangerous or to be ignored.

That raised a question.

Was he expected to feed himself now? Until now the humans had fed him regularly. Would that continue?

Indeed it would, Haruka soon learned.

A human would come three times every day to feed him.

During the day humans would pour onto the pathway and stare at him from beyond the window. It didn't matter much to Haruka. He was fine either way, and none of these humans could pose a threat to him.  
So he just kept on doing whatever he wanted, lounging on his rock, or dancing among the plants, or scrubbing his tail with sand.

It was one of those days, when Ren and Ran had convinced their brother to go to the aquarium with them.

Makoto was visiting Iwatobi, now that he had vacations for two weeks. He worked as a firefighter in Tokyo.  
He had finished studying to become a swimming coach, but his fear of water kept him from actually working as a coach in a swimming pool.  
He sometimes laughed at himself. At how pathetic he was.

But at least he wasn't entirely useless, right? He helped and saved people.

His parents seemed to be content with his current job. Of course they told him every time they could to be careful, to always be safe and did we mention be careful, please!  
He'd always promise to be careful and sigh silently.

Now though, he had two weeks off, and his siblings were overjoyed.

“Onii-chan!”, Ran cheered and pounced him before he had even fully gotten out of bed. Makoto fell back onto the mattress and let out a groan.  
“You are heavy...” he whined.  
“Onii-chan!”, Ren called next and climbed onto the bed to sit next to his sister.  
“Onii-chan, take us to the aquarium!”, they demanded.  
“You are old enough to go by yourselves!”, Makoto pointed out. The twins were 17 now.  
“You never spend time with us anymore!”, Ren whined. Ran quickly joined in.  
“We want to see the mermaid!”

Mermaids don't exist.

Makoto was so close to saying it, but he couldn't.  
Not only were Ren and Ran too eager for him to tell them no, but he himself felt like it was a lie. Like somehow he knew the truth.

Thats how he found himself dizzy, walking through the aquarium, following his siblings from one tank to the other to marvel at various creatures.  
“Hold on, Onii-chan. We'll get to the mermaid soon”, Ran promised. She had taken the lead right after they entered the aquarium.

Makoto barely registered her words. He followed them, simply because it was ingrained in his mind that he had to keep an eye on his siblings, to protect them if anything happened.  
The blueish tint all around him and the water reflecting light in moving patterns onto the floor made him dizzy.

“You are here. You are alive, Makoto. You were saved”, he mouthed to himself without uttering a sound. His heart was pounding in his chest.  
He couldn't breathe.

At some point Ren took his hand and led him further.

“Look, Onii-chan!”, Ran said and gestured for him to come closer to the tank. Despite the cheerful sound of her voice he somehow felt understood. Ren's hand, holding his own… Ran's concerned glances, even when she pretended to be excited beyond measure… it reminded him why he had gone with them, even though he was terrified.

“Look. The mermaid is here”, Ren encouraged and tugged on his hand.

Makoto didn't want to look. He really didn't. He was so scared of the blue mass above him. Invading his lungs…  
No, no no, stop… stop thinking of it. Calm down!

He looked at the bottom of the tank. There was sand, stones and a few fish swimming peacefully. Further in the back there were rocks and some plants swaying.  
He dared to look further up and stopped breathing.

 

Haruka had spent most of his day lazing on his rock as usual, only coming down to the bottom to scrub his tail every now and then.  
Hygiene was an important thing to him after all.

He was about to go to the bottom again, when he saw a human. Not just any human.

Since then about 15 years must have passed, but Haruka would always remember.  
The reason he was broken; crazy. The human he had saved back then.

The child had suddenly stopped swimming properly – maybe it had gotten hurt, Haruka didn't know – and started drowning.  
For a few minutes Haruka had watched from a safe distance, not sure if the human would save himself or not.  
But when he started coughing up bubbles, he decided that the human wouldn't make it on his own. So he swam towards him, sealing his lips with an innocent kiss so he wouldn't inhale any more water.  
He brought him back to the surface, to the beach where he was found moments later. Haruka would have watched longer if not for the other humans that came running.

Before he really knew it, Haruka was pressing his webbed hands against the glass and stared at that human.  
He opened his mouth and let out a soft call.

 

That startled Makoto back into breathing.  
He panted and stumbled towards the glass, pressing his hands to where the mermaid… no, merman's hands were.  
He saved me. This merman did. He did… I know it…! Makoto's thoughts kept repeating those words.

He didn't even notice the commotion around him.

Nobody had ever heard the mermaid – no, merman – utter a sound. Staff and visitors alike were exited to say the least.

Haruka cooed at the human.

He was happy to see him alive and well. He thought, maybe he hadn't made it after all, maybe he had been too late.  
But he was alive and he was here!

Makoto could only stare in awe at those blue eyes, that seemed to gleam with joy. 

Ren and Ran smiled at each other. They were worried that the sight of the mermaid wouldn't be able to calm Makoto down after all, and that they'd dragged their brother through an aquarium with nothing to cheer him up.  
But indeed, the mermaid's beauty did calm him down.  
And even better, the mermaid – no, merman – seemed to like Makoto. 

Sadly though, they had to leave eventually. The aquarium closed in the evening, and the staff, even though they weren't angry or annoyed, told the Tachibana siblings that it was time to leave. They were welcome to come back tomorrow if they so wished.

 

Haruka was called up to the surface for feeding time.  
Nao was already sitting on the platform with a bowl of fish; mackerel to be specific.

“How was your day, Haruka?”, he asked and let Haruka have the bowl. Haruka busied himself with the fish, only looking up for a short moment as a silent response to Nao.  
The human didn't seem to mind his lacking reaction.  
“Is that so”, he said, as if he'd understood anything and smiled.  
“I heard you made a friend today?”, he mentioned.  
Haruka stopped eating.

A friend?  
Did he refer to the human whom he'd saved years ago? The one who had looked at him so emotionally?

“He stood in front of your tank, and you called out to him, didn't you?”, Nao continued. Haruka nodded hesitantly.  
“I didn't know you could call out”

Haruka didn't know how to respond to that.

Of course he could call out. Humans couldn't hear it though unless they were in the water. Or really close to the water, like the human today had been.

Nao smiled at him and Haruka couldn't help but feel like it was somehow unkind. Nao's smiles felt like he was trying to get on his good side; to not make him angry. But Haruka didn't respond to that.

Unless he'd be given a reason, he wouldn't harm anyone.  
So Nao's explicit 'kindness' put him off.

Nao didn't seem to pay any mind to Haruka's lack of response. He calmly waited for Haruka to finish his meal, glad to see he still enjoyed the mackerel that was prepared for him.  
When Haruka had gotten here, and he was assigned to care for him, he was a little bit uncertain how to handle the merman. It's not like anyone had definite knowledge on mermaids that he could refer to.  
The only one he could ask is Ryugazaki-sensei, the researcher and expert who works at the Aquarium to help ensure the wellbeing of the animals and fish that live here.

The young researcher himself though was only just in the process of learning about Haruka's nature. Not to mention, Haruka's somewhat withdrawn personality made it difficult at times to truly get any answers.  
Obviously one could just hit the merman with a tranquilizing shot and examine him while he's knocked out, but Ryugazaki Rei wasn't that kind of researcher. Especially when working with an intelligent and self-willed being such as Haruka.

Still, Rei was determined to keep trying every day.

So when he got news of Haruka's voice being heard, he was extremely excited, even though he hadn't even heard it himself.  
He arrived early in the morning, before anyone even thought of breakfast.  
As an employee he had a key to enter the backstage area of the Aquarium. All tanks were accessible through a door from the backstage area, so the animals and fish could be fed and cared for.  
So when Rei came in he was surprised to find Haruka awake.

And even more surprising, it seemed like the merman was singing to himself.

It was hard to tell from outside the water, but he could hear something soft and melodic.

Afraid to startle the merman, Rei came closer as carefully and slowly as he could. When he got to the edge of the tank, he peered into the water.  
He was entirely certain now, that Haruka was singing. He was laying on his rock, not paying attention to anything other than his song.

Somehow it felt painful to listen. Something about the tone of the song made Rei choke up. The song had no words – at least Rei couldn't pick out any – only mournful wails.

Immediately he wondered, if Haruka had been singing before as well, when nobody else was there to hear it.

For a few moments Rei just stared into the water, watched the merman sing his heart out, until he tilted his head up and looked back up.  
Rei stumbled back, startled by the deep, clear-eyed gaze that suddenly fell on him.

He wasn't prepared for that, but when he came back to the tank, he was surprised to hear that Haruka was still singing, even though he was losing volume. The merman abandoned his post on his rock and sank to the bottom of the tank, continuing his song.

Rei listened silently, not daring to grab his paper and take notes, afraid he might disturb the merman. Something about the song felt so intimate and personal, he felt like an intruder.

To Haruka it didn't make much of a difference.  
He had been wailing and singing over the past few nights, when he felt safe. At the human-siblings' place, he had cried many times, but since he had been above water, nobody had heard it.  
To him, this was something he had to get out.

He hadn't learned how to handle the loss he suffered. He had been a child when his mother left the group he was born into and took him with her.  
They found another group to join after a while, and all was good. He had no memories of his father, so there wasn't much of a loss to cope with.

But now, far away from everyone else, he felt truly alone.

He had never been one for excessive company. A loner and an independent person. He'd hunt for himself, he'd spend his time on his own, rarely respond when anyone called for him.

He wasn't exactly alone here either. He had fish with him, learning about their characters, and just enjoying their company; he had all the humans that came to look at him, and it made him happy in a way that he hadn't known before, when they smiled at him.

But he felt empty. Lonely.

Maybe it was because he had no time to detach from his newborn. Nothing prepared him for the sudden loss.  
He had felt it move up until his contractions had started.

At first, his impulse had been to seek out his mother, or the alpha, but as his contractions dragged on, a sense of dread came over him.  
The living being inside him started to feel like a dead weight, like a rock inside him. It didn't move anymore.

That's when he came to the shore, afraid of the consequences.

With the pain came the memories that he had almost forgotten. Suddenly he resented the unborn child inside him, for awakening the instincts that caused him to forget the pain; that caused him to unconditionally care for it.

He was afraid, that his alpha might hear his cries if he stayed under water, he was afraid that he would have to go through the same thing again, if he was found.

He was safe now; and even though he did resent the child… the loss still weighed on him. 

He felt empty.

 

Rei kept watching until Haruka's voice died down and he couldn't hear him sing anymore. He wasn't sure if Haruka had fallen asleep, or just stopped.  
He didn't want to pry, so he retreated into his office, to write down what he learned.

He had seen earlier, that Haruka has gills right at the roof of his mouth, which made it difficult for him to imitate human words.  
Him and Nagisa had experimented with letting Haruka pronounce different letters and phonemes, just to see if he could communicate with them somehow.  
Haruka could form simple words, whispering or breathing, as opposed to speaking out loud.

His vocal chords obviously worked – Rei noted – but only under water, which made sense if he thought about it.  
After all, mermaids and mermen lived under water, so their voices wouldn't need to be heard above water.

He thought back to the voice he had heard and looked at the memo he had gotten from the other staff, describing Haruka's voice.  
It reminded him of high-pitched whale-singing, something a human-voice could possibly reproduce; but still with an otherworldly tone to it.  
It likely had to do with the density of the medium, how well it carried the voice.

He wanted to get a hyper-sensitive microphone, to record Haruka's voice above, and below the water, to test his hypothesis.

“Rei-chan! Good morning!”, cheered Nagisa, before he even fully opened the door to Rei's office.  
Rei almost dropped his pen and paper when he jumped.  
“So early today? Have you said hello to Haru-chan yet?”, the blonde asked and bounced around Rei's chair.  
“Nagisa-kun… you surprised me”, Rei murmured and adjusted his glasses.  
“I didn't startle you?”, Nagisa asked and pouted.  
“Not anymore”

“Aw, man. But hey, have you said hello to Haru-chan yet?!”  
“Not yet...” Rei's voice was low and quiet. Nagisa picked up on it and grew worried.  
“Did something happen?”, he asked, cheerful attitude gone instantly.  
“I heard him sing”

“Did you get enthralled by the mermaid's song?”, Nagisa's voice was back to its normal vibe, but somewhere in the background, the serious tone remained.

“He sounded sad”, said Rei then after a long pause.

Nagisa was still not over the shock of seeing Rei this depressed over one of his specimens. He was obviously worried. Nagisa was worried too, no question.  
But he couldn't just panic now, could he?  
So he put on a smile and pretended to have figured out the solution already.

“Isn't that obvious?”, he chirped, trying his best to not sound as nervous as he was.  
“Obvious?”  
“Well yes!”, Nagisa said and took on a cute pose. “He's … lonely!” he said before thinking it through.  
But once he had said it out loud, it struck him. How could neither of them have realized?

Well, maybe he was wrong, but wasn't it strange that Haru-chan didn't want to go back to the ocean?

Maybe something happened to him. Or his family, his group? Do mermaids live alone? In families? Does Haru-chan have a family?  
Maybe a mate? Maybe parents, siblings who are looking for him now?

The same thoughts must have coursed through Rei's mind. His eyes lit up with sudden realization and dulled again, when guilt washed over him.  
He should have realized it sooner.  
He shouldn't have taken Haruka's silence for granted, interpreting as one would with a human. Humans don't talk, when they want to be left alone, most of the time. But Haruka wasn't a human!  
How could he have failed this badly?  
Clearly Haruka's appearance and demeanor were deceiving. 

Nagisa picked up on Rei's shifting mood.  
“Let's get him to another tank then!”, he said quickly, smiling widely. “To one of the open tanks. Like the little penguins have. Or the dolphins. That way the visitors could greet him. And also, that tall guy might show up again, wouldn't that be so wonderful? Hopefully this unfolds like a fairytale… about a mermaid and a strong prince...” Nagisa kept babbling in a continuous stream of new ideas, while Rei was still pondering his first suggestion.

A different tank?  
One that allows for visitors to interact with him… that did have its good aspects. It surely had something beautiful to allow Haruka to interact with the people who looked at him.  
And maybe that would cheer him up? And on top of that, the visitors should like it too.  
Maybe feeding-time could be made into an event, where people could participate if they paid a little bit extra?  
That money would surely be useful for the aquarium. He would tell Goro about the idea.

 

Not one week later Haruka was moved to a different tank.

It was open, allowing for interaction with the visitors, but it also was quite deep, where it had a second window, so people could watch him, even if he wasn’t in the mood for direct interactions. It was a great idea, Rei and Nagisa were certain.

And as it turned out, they were right.

Haruka was still not in the mood for direct interactions, rarely ever coming within arm’s reach of the railing, but he sat by the surface more often than not, observing the visitors.  
It was quite endearing to see his curiosity when he watched them.

Feeding-time was quite the event nowadays. People came in hordes to watch the merman feed. Some parents would pay extra to let their children feed him – always a highlight.

Haruka was exceptionally friendly to the children; always allowing them to feed him, sometimes even touch him.

Still, something seemed off about him.  
Nobody had heard his voice ever since Makoto had visited, and doubts arose if the mermaid's song wasn’t just a ruse to bring in more visitors.  
Nao always tried to assure visitors that it wasn’t a ruse, that Haruka was just shy or not in the mood to call out to anyone, but it did little to convince people.

It wasn’t until the Shigino-brothers showed up to visit, that Haruka’s voice was heard again. They came down to the bottom-window of his tank, and he called out to greet them.  
Hayato squeaked in surprise – after all he and Kisumi hadn’t heard Haruka’s voice before – but quickly recovered and called out in return, happily chatting with the merman.

Haruka didn’t respond much, but did seem to pay attention to his chatter, much to the other visitors’ surprise and bewilderment.

Many people filmed the interaction on their phones, and soon the sensation spread around the world.

Hayato and Kisumi became something like celebrities in Iwatobi, and eventually even the local news reporter came to talk to them. An interview was set up in the aquarium, with the Shigino-brothers, Goro, Rei and Nao present, while Nagisa should try to coax Haruka to the surface.

Nao and Nagisa tried their best to convince the introverted merman, but unsurprisingly it was Hayato who got him to cooperate.

The picture of Hayato reaching out to Haruka, and Haruka reaching back went viral in the following days.

 

Makoto saw this picture.  
A teenage boy reaching out to meet the hand of the merman he had seen that day…

He hadn’t come back to the aquarium since then, too scared to realize it had just been in his mind… too afraid to face the truth that this merman _knew_ him… 

 

Still, on his next day off he went to Iwatobi, back to the aquarium. There was a photo on the internet that proved that this merman was real… now he had to confirm if he truly _knew_ him.

He was alone this time, and before he had even set foot into the building his hands got sweaty and his heart beat out of his chest.  
He was so terrified… but he had to see him again.  
Slowly, anxiously he entered the building, shakily paying at the entrance. He crept through the hallways, surrounded by flickering, flowing blue… he swayed and staggered until he had to give up and admit defeat.

He was unable to move any further – last time Ran had been dragging him through the hallways, but this time, he was on his own.

“Are you alright?” asked a stranger with silver hair. He was a member of the staff here and Makoto almost wept, so glad to have anyone by his side right now, even if it was a complete stranger.  
“I… don’t know,” he admitted and looked up.

Nao’s eyes widened.  
This was the one person Haruka had called out to!  
“Are you here to see our merman?” he asked and grabbed onto Makoto’s shoulder to keep him steady.

Makoto bit his lip and shrugged. He felt defeated and disappointed… he wasn’t sure if he could make it that far today… but Nao seemed to understand him.  
“Could it be that you are afraid of the ocean?” he asked, gesturing the tanks around them.

“I… yes,” Makoto whispered and lowered his head. “I… almost drowned when I was a child,” he added and took a deep breath to calm himself again.  
It wasn’t even the trauma of that one incident that haunted him… it was the sensation of death itself… the soft embrace that took him away…

Nao nodded and squeezed Makoto’s shoulder.  
“I’ll take you to Haruka’s tank, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you,” he said softly and without waiting for Makoto’s reply he started guiding him towards the open tank which Haruka inhabited.

 

Haruka himself was at the bottom of the tank today. Feeding-time was over for now, and he wouldn’t be fed for quite a while today, so he liked to relax and rest a little.

Nao carefully reached over the railing and splashed his hand in the water.  
“Haruka!” he called softly and waited.

The merman was tempted to just stay at the bottom of is tank, but it was rare that Nao called for him when it wasn’t feeding-time… maybe something important was happening?  
He ascended in a slow spiral and once he broke the surface of the water, he shook out his hair and looked up expectantly at Nao.  
Nao smiled and stepped aside, revealing Haruka’s human!

He pushed himself up with a powerful stroke of his tail, grabbing the railing to hold himself up above the surface.

Makoto almost fell over backwards, startled by Haruka’s sudden reaction to him.

Nao gave him a pat on the back and chuckled.  
“See? I told you so,” he said, “Go ahead, speak to him.”

Makoto threw a shy glance at Nao and nodded gratefully… and then he looked at Haruka.

“Hello,” he said after a while, not sure what else to say, really.

Haruka opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He reached out with one hand and waited to Makoto to come closer.

Makoto was in shock.

Haruka, the merman, had truly reacted to him… had displayed joy to see him, was willing to touch him… 

God, what did that mean?

Was that a good thing?! Nao sure seemed to think so, judging from his encouraging smile.

Hesitantly Makoto took a step forward and gripped the railing.

Haruka seemed to like that. He reached out more until his cold, slippery fingertips brushed over Makoto’s chin.  
In a daze Makoto leaned forward a little.

Nao watched the interaction, transfixed.

Haruka’s fingertips went up to brush over Makoto’s lips, then slid up the bridge of his nose and around to cradle his cheek.  
He inhaled and exhaled exaggeratedly, then looked Makoto in the eyes.

He knew… right?

Tears sprang into Makoto’s eyes, and he nodded.  
“Yes… I’m still breathing…” he whispered and gently covered Haruka’s hand with his own. 

Haruka frowned, seeing Makoto’s tears. He brushed them away, catching the droplets on the webbing between his fingers, and only now did Makoto realize he was crying.  
“I’m sorry,” he said, blushing immediately and rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand.

Haruka caught his hand and pulled him closer to the water.

Makoto panicked and tried to free his hand, but Haruka wouldn’t let go. He looked up at him and sank below the surface. Makoto was bent over the railing, his hand mere centimeters above the surface.  
His heart was pounding so hard, he thought he was going to pass out.

And then Haruka sang.

He poured out his heart, never looking away from his human.

People gathered around the tank, but Makoto didn’t see them, didn’t hear them. All he knew was Haruka’s song… and even though he didn’t understand a single word – if they even were words – of the merman’s song, he felt a connection.  
He felt the sadness, the fear and desire in his voice, and he felt that he understood him somehow… 

When Haruka came up to the surface again, Makoto smiled tenderly and squeezed the merman’s hand.  
“Thank you,” he said softly, “that was beautiful.”

Haruka nuzzled Makoto’s hand, his way of saying thanks.

 

Nao told Rei what happened, and it wasn’t a difficult decision after that. They approached Makoto and offered him a job as Nao’s assistant, to care for Haruka.  
Makoto wasn’t sure about it at first – he had never worked with marine animals, let alone mermaids before, but Nao and Rei assured him that it wasn’t about that.

They told him about Haruka’s usual demeanor; how he was distant and withdrawn most of the time, only opening up to the children, and how he still sang sad songs at night.

That was what convinced Makoto in the end.

To think that he sang songs like the one he had heard that day every night was haunting, beautiful and bittersweet at the same time.  
To think that this merman held such pain in his heart… 

 

It was difficult at first. Makoto never dared to enter the tank, not even stepping onto the edge of it, too afraid to fall into the water.  
Nao and Rei assured him that nothing would happen to him, that everyone here could swim and would be able to save him, not to mention that Haruka would likely save him before anyone else even had the time to react… but Makoto’s trauma was too strong.

They didn’t try to push him. They allowed him to stay behind the railing and interact with Haruka that way.  
Haruka seemed to be reasonably content with that, but every now and then he would get frustrated and try to pull Makoto in.

Makoto never allowed him to do that and no amount of pouting changed his mind… but how was Haruka supposed to communicate with his human?!  
He wanted to talk to him! And the only way to do that was to submerge him, so he could hear his voice clearly… but no, it wasn’t allowed.

Makoto and Nao did try to explain to him, that he was just scared, but Haruka couldn’t even assure him.  
He would never let him drown! He had saved him back then, had Makoto forgotten about that?

 

Haruka sat at the bottom of his tank and pouted.

Makoto sat by the railing and sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the merman… it was just his irrational fear. Even Haruka’s unflinching, serene calmness wasn’t enough to still the fear within him, it didn’t do anything to make the thought of water beneath his feet with no ground underneath any less terrifying.

Two young men approached the tank and called Haruka’s name. The younger of the two was the one he had seen in that picture online. The elder threw a glance at Makoto and smiled.  
Makoto smiled back uncertainly, distracted when Haruka broke the surface of the water.  
The merman allowed the teenager to touch his hand.

Hayato giggled and shook Haruka’s hand, “How are you today?” he asked cheerfully and released his hand again.  
Haruka threw a glance at Makoto and then rolled his eyes.

Kisumi raised his eyebrows.  
“What did he do, hm?” he asked and crossed his arms over the railing.

Haruka sank down a bit so his mouth was below the surface and blew some bubbles.

Makoto walked over to them, and Haruka immediately flopped his tail, splashing Makoto with water.  
Kisumi laughed and looked at Makoto.  
“What _did_ you do?” he wondered.

Makoto whined.  
“I don’t let him pull me into the water… and he doesn’t seem to like that...” he admitted. Kisumi nodded and rubbed his chin, pursing his lips.  
“Hm…” he hummed and threw a glance at Hayato, who was reaching for Haruka again, seemingly trying to placate him.

“Why not?” Hayato asked, turning to look at Makoto while his hand was still hovering above the water.

Makoto shrugged. He didn’t want to reveal the whole story of his panic and fear to these strangers. 

Hayato shrugged dismissively, “I think he’s just trying to be friends with you,” he guessed and finally managed to pat Haruka’s head, before the merman disappeared below the surface again.

Makoto nodded. Yeah, that seemed right… but he just couldn’t do it. 

 

It took almost half a year before Makoto overcame his fear.

It was a group-effort, but mostly it was Haruka’s work, as he learned to understand Makoto’s feelings more and more. He understood that Makoto’s fear of the water was similar to his fear of his pod. It wasn’t a fear of danger, but a fear of… misery and discomfort.  
Once he understood that, he felt guilty and tried to be more careful around Makoto.

Like this, he slowly got Makoto used to the water in general. Touching him with his wet hands, splashing him playfully while he was still on the other side of the handrail.  
After a while Makoto stopped flinching at that, and bent down willingly when Haruka pulled him down, still not touching the water.

Eventually he dared to come inside, sitting on the platform, while Haruka danced in the water. 

 

Makoto joined Haruka for the first time one evening, after everyone else had left already. Haruka had elected to curl up in Makoto’s lap – as best as he could – that evening and refused to let him go.

Makoto didn’t have the heart to force him to let go, so let him stay where he was. He occasionally stroked Haruka’s head or his shoulders, while the merman rested.

When he finally decided to let his human go, Haruka let out what seemed to be a voiceless sigh and slid into the water.

Something about that, about his sigh, the way he had refused to let him go until now made Makoto’s heart ache, and he dropped his feet into the water. (Even though he didn’t go into the water, he was wearing a wetsuit as part of his uniform.)  
This had startled Haruka, who hadn’t expected any interference with the water’s surface, causing the merman to lash out momentarily.

Makoto had apologized immediately and reached out to soothe the merman again… and when Haruka pulled him down, he just let him.

He was tense and anxious, but Haruka cooed at him, held him close to himself and even kissed him, to give him some air to breathe.

Makoto understood at last why Haruka had wanted him to be in the water with him… his voice was so much more complex, his words, his songs, his everything so much more harmonious, melodic, elegant and weightless…

Deep in his heart, he knew he needed to hear this again… he knew he would join Haruka in the water many times again, just to hear this.

 

And before he knew it, he had fallen in love with his merman… with Haruka.

Haruka, who was so beautiful and precious.

Haruka, who sang for him.

Haruka, who had saved his life.

Haruka, who had taught him to overcome his fears.

Haruka, who was mysterious and intelligent.

Haruka, who was his very own fantasy-come-true.

 

_Haruka, who loved him back with all of his heart._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> If you did, it would totally make my day if you left me kudos a comment!
> 
> PS: It is unlikely that I will find the time to continue fleshing out this story, but if anyone wants to do it, I would gladly share my story-notes and plans!


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